Ep162: Sarah Von Bargen on Building Joyful, Intentional Habits

Posted on November 27, 2018

Sarah Von Bargen of the blog Yes and Yes joins me for a second visit this week to talk about building joyful, intentional habits. She’s the amazing person behind the blog Yes and Yes, and she has a refreshing no-nonsense take on how you can create room for more happiness and joy in your life.

Intention and Action
What I adore about this episode is that Sarah shares about how she approaches living an intentional life. She is mindful of what she chooses to do, and what she chooses to put her energy towards. In our discussion, she shares how you can question the messages that are shared in the world around us, and ask yourself “is this assumption / message / way of doing things right for me? Or, is it not right for me?” This is also the invitation to go deeper with the information you receive.

“Does it make you feel ‘less than’?”
You may notice that when you start to do something, even as simple as spending time with a specific person, or doing something you’ve been doing every day for a long time that you do not feel good about it. This feeling, the energetic vibe you’re getting, is a tell tale sign that you need to change something.
What’s feeling off?

Take the action
If you are noticing that something in your life feels off, the next key thing is to take action to change it. That’s where habits come in, and where you may need to make mindful steps when you notice that you’re doing something that doesn’t serve you.
Sarah lists 3 ways of doing this:
1. Find unofficial accountability partners by announcing to friends, family, or social media that you’re making a change
2. Talk about the habit you’re changing in every day conversation, making it part of your identity
3. Make an appointment or pre-pay for things you want to change, such as a gym membership

In this episode we also talk about:

Doing your best and putting your heart into your work

Letting go of how others respond to what you put out into the world

How to live a life of intention

Catching yourself in the moment and noticing what feels off, and how that is a queue on what habits you may want to change

Taking action to make positive changes

The top two things people want to change in their lives (using their phone and getting more sleep)